January 8, 2026 // Diocese

Diocesan Pilgrims Relish Experiences at SEEK Conference

Todays Catholic

Dozens of young adults from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend were assured of God’s love – and encouraged to respond to His call in their lives – during the SEEK 2026 conference that took place from January 1-5 in Columbus, Ohio.

This year, SEEK was held at three sites across the country – Columbus, Denver, and Fort Worth, Texas, drawing more than 26,000 people total to the conference for talks and workshops on encountering Jesus Christ. The schedule included daily Mass, Eucharistic adoration, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and fellowship.

 

One of the highlights of the event was a video message delivered by Pope Leo XIV, who told the attendees, “Be open to what the Lord has in store for you.”

Among the numerous conference speakers were Father Mike Schmitz, Matt Fradd, Chris Stefanick, Sister of Life Mary Grace, and Sister Josephine Garrett, a sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

Father Mark Gurtner, vicar general of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, told Today’s Catholic that while he was a first-time attendee at SEEK, he was thoroughly impressed with the conference.

“The level of organization, thought, and zeal put into this outreach to young adults is amazing, all to give young adults a deeper encounter with the Lord Jesus through evangelization, catechesis, and sacramental ministry,” Father Gurtner said. “Also, like with World Youth Day, it witnesses to the young adults that they are not alone in the practice of the Catholic faith as they experienced each other by the tens of thousands and also saw hundreds of happy priests and religious joining them. Praised be Jesus Christ!”

 

SEEK is sponsored by FOCUS, an international Catholic missionary outreach that serve more than 200 college campuses in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe. In his January 4 keynote address, Curtis Martin, the founder of FOCUS, told attendees that God “wants to dance with” them. Martin stressed the transformative power of God’s love, which enables those infused with it to in turn become missionary disciples, able to “go love the world.”

SEEK 2026 centered on the theme “To the Heights,” a favorite exhortation of the recently canonized St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, an avid mountaineer and patron of young adults.

Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of Columbus reflected in his homily at the SEEK 2026 opening Mass in that city that the conference’s timing and its 2026 theme harmonized well.

“The mighty God descended from the starry heaven and became a child so that we might go up to heaven, ‘toward the heights,’ as Pier Giorgio Frassati might say,” Bishop Fernandes said.

 

Eli Shoup, a Michigan native who studies mechanical engineering at Trine University in Angola, said the most impactful experience at SEEK for him was “worshipping the Lord at Mass with 16,000-plus students who were just like us – earnestly striving for sainthood.”

Shoup, who runs track and cross country at Trine, where he is an active member of the university’s Newman Catholic Fellowship, said he hopes to take the lessons he learned at SEEK back to Trine and practice “confident, fearless, and loving evangelism on campus to grow and strengthen our Catholic community.”

Shoup and his fellow attendees were encouraged to boldly live the Faith by Pope Leo, who addressed the crowds in all three cities in a pre-recorded video message. The pope appeared to echo St. Frassati’s sentiment to go “to the heights,” urging SEEK attendees to reflect on the call of the first two disciples of Jesus as detailed in John 1:35-51.

The pope said that St. Andrew and the other disciple – initially followers of St. John the Baptist – pursued Jesus, whose first recorded words in John’s Gospel were a question posed to the two: “What do you seek?”

“Jesus asks the disciples this question because he knows their hearts,” said Pope Leo. “They were restless – in a good way. They did not want to settle for the normal routine of life. They were open to God and were longing for meaning.”

And, said the pope, “today, Jesus directs this same question to each one of you.”

Pope Leo noted that conference attendees’ hearts may also be “restless, searching for meaning and fulfillment” as well as for “direction in your lives.”

To such profound questions, said the pope, “The answer is found in a person. The Lord Jesus alone brings us true peace and joy and fulfills every one of our deepest desires.”

As they “draw close to Jesus” during the SEEK 2026 conference, Pope Leo urged attendees, “Do not be afraid to ask Him what He is calling you to,” whether that vocation is the priesthood, religious life, or marriage and family life.

“If you sense the Lord calling you, do not be afraid,” said Pope Leo. “Once again, let me emphasize that He alone knows the deepest, perhaps hidden, longings of your heart, and the path that will lead you to true fulfillment. Let Him lead and guide you!”

Aaron Reichert, a pilgrim from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, told today’s Catholic that “the constant grace” at SEEK “was unbelievable.”

“Being there with so many priests, so many holy people, is an experience like no other. So many confessions, so many people in adoration, so many faithful receptions of the holy Eucharist,” said Reichert, an Ohio native who is studying civil engineering Trine. “In line for confession, I looked at another faithful Catholic who I did not know and said, ‘There has to be few moments since Christ’s resurrection that Satan has hated as much as this, and he’s helpless!’ The grace of God was in the air, and it was unavoidable.”

Reichert said he hopes “to use the SEEK experience to love adoration so much more and come closer to the Lord, along with the Newman Catholic Fellowship at Trine to help transform our campus into a hub of Catholics on fire for the Lord. Please pray for our mission!”

OSV News contributed to this report.